hallway art on my floor (by charles blackman)
Back at the hotel after my day at St Kilda, I took a few more photos,
some of the outside of the hotel, and some of artworks in the
hallways of the floor I'm on.
And, in the room, I sort of attempted to create shapes or draw
parallels with myself and some of the artwork in the room, but I am
not sure the experiments worked out.
But back to my day... So far, although I was actually staying on St
Kilda Rd, I hadn't yet spent any time in the parts of St Kilda I'm
most familiar with. I finally decided to head to St Kilda Beach, Luna
Park and the Acland St cake shops. It took me a while to get there,
because the tram I was on turned off St Kilda Rd, and rather than get
off in a panic at the next stop, I decided to see where I ended up.
My myki pass is still good, I wasn't in a hurry, and I do tend to
stick to what I know in Melbourne, so..
streetview of the blackman hotel
When the tram looped back and I finally made it to my destination, I
was very hungry. No Up & Go for me. It is difficult to narrow down
one's choice when you look in the windows of the Acland St cake
shops. I'm curious as to how other people narrow it down, if it's
really easy for some people, or if they really want to order 20
items, but don't. I think I managed to get a good selection, without
taking in more than I could handle or triggering a binge.
mocha macaron, handmade chocolate, chocolate canoli
I decided on a chocolate canoli, a mocha macaron, and a handmade
chocolate (chocolate hazelnut), and a skim milk cappuccino. The
chocolate canoli was definitely my favourite.. I think I got the
wrong handmade chocolate - it tasted like peanut butter and jelly,
and I actually sort of wondered if it was an 'in joke'.. people order
the nutella flavour, and get something sort of white bread, something
along those lines..
the acland cake shop
The cake shops are in competition with each other, but it is
difficult for me to choose a shop, let alone one or two desserts to
try. They all look amazing.
There's no shortage of desserts in Melbourne, and maybe these shops
have a lot more competition now, but it still seems like a lot of
people stop to look in the windows, and take photos.
This time, I ended up eating in at Le Bon cake shop.
Before I left St Kilda for the day, I stopped in at the Acland Cake
Shop to pick up a chocolate éclair for breakfast on my last day here.
(No, as of the time of writing, I haven't eaten it yet. I think I can
wait until breakfast.)
le bon cake shop
I then walked around the area for a while. I saw an interesting art
gallery on a street called Pumpkin Lane:
pumpkin lane
Proceeding on to the beach, I took some photos..
st kilda beach
And then I made my way to Luna Park. At Luna Park, instead of just
walking around, I decided to connect with my inner child and I
actually went on some rides. It's been a long time since I've been on
amusement park rides, and I was by that time buzzed enough from my
caffeine and sugar fix to find them especially fun. Luckily, I still don't have
to worry about getting sick on rides. Maybe some things just don't
change..
luna park
I found that I enjoyed being at Luna Park, and that I was even
finding the screams were adding a kind of amusing ambiance. This was
part of why I eventually pulled out the videocamera - I wanted to
capture some of the screams, but I am not sure yet how well I
did.
After Luna Park, I felt like walking more, so I went back to the
beach. I also used a public unisex toilet there but was kind of
scared by the smell. I felt relieved that I had liquid hand sanitizer
in my backpack.. I saw a woman going in after me, and I thought about
waiting outside after to ask her if she wanted to use it - there
wasn't any soap inside, but I wasn't brave enough to approach her,
and I did see her sort of shaking water off her hands and looking
kind of worried, or uncomfortable..
the spider
pink elephants
luna park carousel
There is a sign that states Luna Park's carousel is the largest and most elaborate in the
Southern Hemisphere.
I chose a dark horse.
luna park rollercoaster
The rollercoaster doesn't seem to be in operation any more. I would
have liked to have tried it out.
the vineyard
It was a cold day, and at a certain point I felt like I might want a
hot meal. I was in one sense thinking about having something to
balance the caffeine and sugar, but at the same time, I was wondering
if I should get more coffee. There were a lot of places that were
potentially interesting, but for some reason I was drawn to a place
called The Vineyard. Inside, I was very comfortable with the vibe,
and took some photos of some of the decor.
the vineyard
The soup of the day was sweet potato and onion, and came with some
toasted ciabatta bread. I found it was just right for the day. After
that, I had an espresso.. which fully kicked in a little later, and
is probably largely responsible for me writing this entry..
Today was a pretty successful day. I think I had the right portions
of food, the right combinations, and the 'right kind of high'. In
fact, oddly enough, today is the first day I'm really recognizing the
old familiar high. The other days, I might have been more nervous,
enough that I barely noticed when I had walked for 6 hours and that
sort of thing.. (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.)
greener
I'm going to repeat something from another entry: Trying to keep an
open mind.. reconnect with childlike wonder..
At Luna Park, I think caffeine and sugar helped..
Note: I compiled this entry while listening to Father Bob and John
Safran (Sunday Night Safran.)
->exile on meme st: a diary
->xesce.net
